A staff member of Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., was arrested on Monday by U.S. Capitol Police for carrying a pistol on Capitol grounds without a license, police said on Tuesday, NOTUS has reported.
Kevin Batts, a special assistant for the New Jersey Democrat, was arrested at the Capitol after he did not go through security, according to police
“Yesterday afternoon, a member of Congress led an IDed staff member around security screening at the Hart Senate Office Building,” Capitol Police said in a statement on Tuesday. “Later that evening, outside the Senate Galleries, the IDed staff member — who is a retired law enforcement officer — told our officers he was armed.”
Police said Batts was arrested for carrying a pistol without a license, adding that “all weapons are prohibited from Capitol grounds, even if you are a retired law enforcement officer or have a permit to carry in another state or the District of Columbia.”
Jeff Giertz, a spokesperson for Booker, said that “Senator Booker’s office employs a retired Newark police detective as a New Jersey-based driver who often accompanies him to events. We are working to better understand the circumstances around this.”
According to Politico, congressmen are usually given broad leeway to request bypasses of security screening for staffers and guests who come with them into the buildings of the Capitol, although the police do not like the practice.
The arrest came just before Booker started a marathon speech on Monday night railing against potential severe cuts to government services as Republicans attempt to push through tax cuts, The Hill reported.
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